North Carolina Newspapers

VOLUME 45—NO. 103 * * * SMITHFIELD, N. C„ FRIDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 30, 1927 * * * $2.00 PER YEAR Hickman Confesses Killing Parker Girl Admits Slaying After Re peated Denials;. Twice At tempts Suicide; Crowds Watch His Arrival At Los Angles. Climaxing* the most spectacular nan hunt the west has known in fears, William Edward Hickman, youthful fugitive wanted as kid lapper and slayer of Marian Par ker, 12-year-old Los Angeles girl, was captured at Pendleton, Ore ron last Thursday afternoon and ater confessed the crime to the ifficers. He was trailed by one of he $20 bills which he took from he child’s father before deliver ng her dead body to him. Soon ifter spending one of the bills he vas found by two Pendleton officers in the old Oregon trail as he sped n a large car which had been stolen at Los Angeles. He was aken without resistance. A sawed >ff shotgun was found in the car leside him. Hickman laughed hysterically yhen he was told at the Pendleton •ity jail that he was the murderer if Marian Parker. He at first re fused to admit his own name, but ater broke down and confessed lis identity. He declined to take responsibility for the slaying. H? >aid it was the- work of a “fiend.” Later in a statement he said that the slaying had been done by a confederate, Andrew Cramer, who assisted him in the kidnapping. Ho claimed that he had not intended to kill the girl, but had kidnapped ler hoping to get money from her father to pay his way through col eg*o. It later developed that An irew Cramer had been in the Los \ngeles jail since August, f On Monday while enroute from Pendleton to Los Angeles, where ie was being carried by officers to face charges of kidnapping and murder, he confessed to District Attorney Asa M. Keyes, prosecu Los Angeles county, that ie was the slayer of Marian Par ker. In his new confession, Hick nan is said to have admitted that lie strangled the girl to death and hen dismembered her body. Hickman made two attempts at suicide before being- taken to the :rain at Pendleton. The first was an effort to choke himself to Jeath with a handkerchief. His guards thwarted this and revived aim with a glass of water. Shortly hereafter he climbed into a top aunk in his cell and plunged hea l first to the concrete floor. The watchful guards caught him. Saturday night while Hickman was lying in an apparent dazo the officers turned into his cell a group :>f several Indians who had been nrrested for celebrating Christmas with liquor. This was done in an attempt to learn whether he was ‘faking-” his condition. When the officers observed that his eyes were following the move ments of the Indians as they squab Dled noisily they decided his mind had pot been affected. Despite the intense public feel ing aroused over the kidnapping and killing of the Parker girl, there were no outbreaks Tuesday ■when Hickman arrived in Los An geles, the scene of the brutal mur der, to be placed in the county jail. A crowd of about 4000 people had gathered about the county building when officers arrived with the youthful slayer. The throng seemed impelled more by curiosity than any intent to attempt vio (Turn to page eight, please) Tantalizer There are exactly enough let ter8 in the line below to spell the name of a person in Smith neld, and if the right one de ciphers his name and will pre sent it to The Herald office, we will present him with a complimentary ticket to the Victory Theatre. Tickets must be called for before the fol \ lowing ispu«i I Alton Godwin recognized his name last issue. Tcoay*s -raninlizer: \ lueysllanltea Kidnapping Victim lAuTOCAgTCR | \ Marian Parker, 12-year o, daughter of Perry Parker, chi clerk of the Los Angeles Trust ai Savings Bank, whose kidnappq and slaying has aroused Southej California and the nation. Chevrolet Dealers Inspect New Model -4 B. J. HoIIeman Says Dealers Were Captivated By New Car Shown In Charlotte. “Never before dtn'in gthe course of my experience in the automobile business has a new car so com pletely captivated dealers as did the new Chevrolet, which was shown to over 100 Chevrolet deal ers from all over the old North State in Charlotte Tuesday,” stat ed B. J. HoIIeman, of the HoIIe man Motor company, local Chevro let dealer, who lias just returned to the city after attending this pre-showing. Without disclosing details, Mr. HoIIeman declared that the new car embodies the re suits of the 13 years experience and progress in the building of low pi iced transportation, and heralds it as the greatest automobile b> a wide margin ever offered the public by Chevrolet. Unofficial reports from the Chevrolet office say that the new car will embody many improve ments in design and construction New standards of beauty are prom ised. Easier handling and smooth er riding qualities are heralded as some of the outstanding features of the new Chevrolet line. Many unlooked for changes have been made in the appearance ol the car, according to reports, pro viding* the new Chevrolet with i beauty and style appeal unexempl ed in the low-price field. • Shipments of the new cars tc dealers have been leaving the va lious assembly plants since Decern ber 15 so that the vast country wide dealer organization may b» prepared for the introductory showing on New Year’s day. Prac tically every dealer in the Unitec States v 111 have car's ready fo: inspection on that date. Fron Bangor, Maine, to San Diego an< from Miami to Vancouver ther> will be simultaneous exhibitions o the new car that has caused s much discussion, in the last fe\ months. j Cars will be ready fro the boule yards and highways immediate! after the first of the year. Pro duction at the various plants i the United States is lacing alon as fast as precision manufacturin will permit. Never before in th history of the industry will s many new models of one mak have been placed in dealers’ hand in such a biief space of time, i Over 5.500 newspapers acros tho country will assist in broac casting the announcement, whic will take the form of one of th most comprehensive advertisin 1 campaigns ever attempted durin j the entire history of the autom< ! bile industry. W,hpn the yellow streak begins t | work out of some people they ha\ ! a fit of the blues. I . To Change Size Of Paper Money Standardized Designs Ex pected To Make Note Rais er’s Task More Difficult. Written Specially for The Herald. By ROBERT FULLER WASHINGTON, D. C., Dec. 29. —The year 1928 will mark the first change in size of paper money since 18(51. For months the Bureau of En graving and Printing, the great est print shop in the world, will be busy making new and smaller $1 bills so that upon some fixed day next fall they may be issued simultaneously throughout the country and the old ones retired at one swoop, to be redeemed, of course, upon demand. Notes of other denominations will be print 1 ed and put in circulation probably in 1929. The new notes will be 6 5-16 by 2 11-16 inches whereas the notes now in circulation are 7 7-16 by 3 1-8 inches. By the change the Government expects to save $2, 000,000 annually. The reduction in size of the bills is expected to in crease the capacity of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing by 50 per cent because twelve of the smaller notes can be printed at one impression upon the same press which now prints but eight. Through the change in size the bills will be made more conveni ent to handle and will also be more durable. The new notes will slip into a billfold or pocket, it is claimed, without creasing or fold ing, and for this reason are ex pected to have a much longer life than those now in use. The life of the average bill now is not more than six or seven months, treasury officials say. Folding is one of the chief items cutting short the life of paper money. Designs on the bills are also to be standardized. Many designs now appear on the different denomina tions and the various kinds of notes. Washington’s portrait, for example, appears both on the $1 and some $20 bills. Treasury officials point out that through standardizing the designs the new notes cannot be> so easily “raised” to higher denominations by the crooked gentry who make this their business. In addition to standardized designs on the new paper money there will be a rela tion between the portrait on the face and the engraving on the back, except in the cases of the $1 bill and those above $100. On the face of the new $1 bill will be the portrait of Washington and on the back will be the word “ONE” in large letters. On the $2 bill will be a portrait of Jef ferson with an engraving of Mon ticello, his home, on the back. Lincoln’s portrait will be on the face of the $5 bill with the Lin coln Memorial for the back. Ham ilton’s portrait will appear on the face of the $10 bill and the Treas ury Building on the back. For the face of the $20 bill Grover Cleve land’s portrait has been chosen, with the White House for the back. Grant’s portrait will be on the . face of the $50 bill, Benjamin Franklin’s on the $100, McKinley’s on the $500, Jackson’s o nthe $1, , 000, Madison’s on the $5,000, and ( Chase’s on the $10,000. i All these designs have been ap , proved, although some may/ be * changed later. No retirement of money-making , machinery will be necessitated by the change, it is said. NEW FIRM BEGINS WITH THE NEW YEAR ■ r I Among* the new firms of the New r,Year in Smithfield is the Radic 3 Sales and Service company, locat 3 ed on the second floor of the Q Thornton building. The proprie tors are Chas. L. Beasley and C . Dwight Johnson. Mr. Johnson wit . be the manager, and Mr. Beasley h will continue to sell Camel cig e arettes. j>; The newf firm will sell Kolstei g radios and radiolas. Also, it wil _ handle Windsor cone loud speak er. A service department will be maintained to serve the large num o ber of radio owmers in this sec e tion. Read the ad of this nev firm elsewhere in this issue. I FORD HITS FORD IN FORD; FORD DAMAGE! CHARLOTTE, Dec. 28.—Jus Fords— J. F. Ford, of Belmont, driving a Ford, and E. D. Ford, negro, o' Charlotte, also in a Ford, rai their cars together at Trade an< College • streets yesterday. No one was hurt—but one Fort was damaged. ♦ Fire Cracker In Pipe Explode: Severely Injures Left Eye Ol J. R. Johnson Of Four Oaks Sight May Be Destroyed. The probable loss of an eye is vhat the celebration of Christmas with firecrackers meant to J. R Johnson, who lives on Four Oaks, route S. Mr. Johnson had been to a Christmas tree at Beulah Hill church on Friday night, according to our information, and the acci dent happened as he was walking along* the road on his return home. Someone had put a firecracker in his pipe, and as he lifted it to his mouth to take a puff, the thing exploded in his face severely in juring his left eye. He sought first aid medical attention in Four Oaks and then came to Smithfield to Dr. J. H. Fitzgerald. As yet, see at all with the injured eye, Mr. Johnson has not been able to and it is not known at this time whether the sight will be restored or not. CROP YIELDS INCREASED IIY USE OF LEGUMES RALEIGH, Dec. 28.—There have been many notable examples over North Carolina during the proved in fertility. The method past year of how soils may be im used is simple since it includes largely the turning under of leg umes. “Some of these examples includ ed a tobacco crop which sold for over $500 an acre, a 27-hors© cot ton crop that made over a blue to the acre and many unusually high rcon yield's,” says E, C. Blair extension agronomist at State Col lege. “Interest in livestock is in creasing in the State and a large part of the land now planted U such crops as tobacco, cotton, pea nuts and other crops may be shift ed to feed crops for livestock wit! a good cash income from the ani mals, as well as an increased yiel: of the money crops made on less land. The way to do this fa tc follow the example of those mer who are making the best use o legumes in their crop rotations.’ | Mr. Blair states that C. H. Gor ham of Edgecombe county made 172 bushels of corn per acre when | he plowed under clover as com pared with 33 bushels where n< clover was used. Removing tin J clover as hay decreased the yieh by five bushels per acre. J. F iCowan of Hertford county mad 49 bushels of corn per acre When he used no vetch as a cover croj 'and 87 bushels where a voluntee j stand was plowed under. G. E Callahan of Bladen county has beei following a good crop rotatioi since 1923 and now sells abou $3000 worth of tobacco, cottoii beef, pork, and poultry product from 32 acres of cultivated lane C. M. Foy of Jones county and rI J. Purdie of Cumberland are tw J other farmers who have foun |that a crop rotation with legume I will bring better yields of the mai cash crops and will leave the re maining acreage for produclm feed and food crops. The idea of a systematic cro {rotation is old, states Mr. Blaii but in actual practice it is new land more landowners are becom ing interested each year. I -+ I). L. TOOL DEAD D. L. Tool died at his home i Ingrams township on December H (following a stroke of paralysis He had suffered a stroke sever* years ago and the second attac | proved fatal. The deceased wa sixty or more years old. He wa never married. He leaves four sis ,ters to mourn his loss. They an Mrs. Jack Webb, Mrs. Sonia Ma< sengill, Miss Emily Tool of Johr aton county and Mrs. A. W. nrt of Sampson county. Stov Christmas Cheer In Smithfieid -♦— ; Kiwanis Club Provides Christ; mas Bags For 24; Other I Organizations Do Their! I Part. I Christmas not only passed off ! quietly in Smithfield but the sea json was characterized by acts of kindness and Christmas cheer dis 'pensed by the churches, by the va iri-ou lodges, by the Kiwanis club and by other organizations as ■weil as individuals. It is doubtful if a 1 single home in this community was without gifts and expressions of love and thoughtfulness. Outstanding among the organi- • zations that carried the Christmas spirit to under-privileged homes is the Kiwanis club. A committee headed by B. J. Holleman provid ed Santa Claus bags for fifteen, 'children that otherwise would per 'haps not have had the good things that go to make life happy at this iseason. In addition to the confec tioneries and toys, warm clohting consisting of sweaters, overalls, !stockings, etc., were given. Also, nine aged women were remembered with Christmas bags. Those assist ing Mr. Holleman were A. J. Whit ley, Jr., and George Ragsdale. ! The Junior Order did its share too, in making folks happy by giv ing one of its members, Charlie Lindsay, a generous pounding. Mr. js Lindsay is one of the oldest citi- |t zens of Smithfield, and this expres- k sion of the esteem in which he is b held in the community was fitting n and was appreciated by the recip- 1 ient. j2 These instances of goodwill v might be multiplied, but these are e sufficient to show the manner m b which Smithfield celebrated the ^ birth of the Savior of the world, t -♦- !e Paragraphics To Farmers. |t Modern poultry f/'owing in t North Carolina will be a feature of the short course for poultry keep- y ers to be held at State College, b January 23 to 28. 1 The State Beekeepers Associa tion will meet at State College dur- j ing the two days of January 2G to 27. A slhort course in beekeep ing will be given. Poultry club members of Ca tawba county made a clear profit of $11,654.27 on their flocks m 1927. In addition they won the sum of $1,213.10 in prizes at fairs and expositions. More farmers plan to sell their corn as pork next spring. The county agent of Person county re ports that self-feeder number 31 was built last week. Timber may be worked as a paying* crop on the farm. Thin out the weak and undesirable trees so that the better trees may grow and be harvested for timber as they mature, is the method now being used by many progressive farm ers. The value of recleaning tobacco seed was learned for the first time by many growers last season. This year, the practice will be come more general. It means a stronger and healtheir plants for setting. flotations of q'rops, with leg umes included will pay in increas ed yields and more fertile lands say those men who have tv/ed it. t FIVE COUPLES MARRIED COURTHOUSE SATURDAY > Christmas Eve proved to be a 1 popular day for marriages in this - county. Justice of the Peace D. T. r Lunceford tied the following cou ples Saturday: Miss Irene Ellis > and Linwood Rooks of Selma, Miss , Beulah Love of Angier route 1, and ; James O. Clifton of Benson, route - 1, Miss Bertha Caudle and Larkin Norris of Benson, route 1, Miss Dora Johnson and John Taylor of Selma, and Miss Cleola Wilder of Middlesex and Lester William 1 Minton, of Richmond, Va. * Kills Hog That {Weigs 62k |. c J. A. Stewart, of Smithfield, |' s route 1, killed a Duroc Jersey hog f s Monday that weighed 624 pounds. 1 - The hog was 23months old. Mr. : Stewart will kill about 1,500 - pounds of pork this season. He is ia - a man who believes in living at j' - home. He has plenty of com and 1 jpotntoes, too. Where The S-4 Went Down 1 —1 j-* ---’ Between the "Vulcan" and "Lark,” shown at anchor in the harbor off Provincetown, Mass:, lies the ill-fated submarine S-4, sunk by collision with the Coast Guard destroyer Paulding. Insert shows Lieut. Commander Roy Kehlor Jones, in charge of the S-4, on which were four officers, 34 enlisted men and two visitors connected with the Navy Board of Inspection and Survey, according to the official Iruck Mechanics Each Get Bonus -<* -ost Of Operating School Trucks Is Less Second Year With Trucks A Year Older. When trucks began to be used intensively in the schools of John son county, the Board of Educa on in an effort to keep the up eep of the trucks as low as possi le, offered to the mechanic who ade the best showing, a bonus, his was at the beginning of 1925 3. At the end of the year there as delay in working up the av :ages, and then an audit of the ooks was ordered. East week, oun,ty Superintendent Marrow >ok the audit recently complet i, and figured out the winners for le years 1925-26 and 1926-7. It irned out that O. W. Hedrick won le bonus the first year and W. . Williams the bonus the second ear. These are the two men who ave charge of all the school ■ucks in the county, and they have lade a good showing. At the Dc ?mber meeting of the Board of ducation, it was ordered that a leek bo drawn for a hundred dol irs and presented to each, with n expression of their apprecia on of their efforts in reducing le cost of transportation in the 3unty. The trucks are divided between lese two mechanics and they are esponsible for those in their ter itory. In 1925-26, Mr. Hedrick perated thirty-two trucks at an verag-e cost of $325.9846. That ame year Mr. Williams operated hirty-five trucks at an average 3st of $325.9288. In 1926-27, Mr. [edrick operated forty-nine trucks t an average cost per truck of ji00.24. Ijr. Williams operated arty-four trucks at an average ost of $304.1297. It is significant hat the trucks were run at a >wer average in 1926-27, when hey were a year older. 7 beautifying Country Graveyards. A friend has written to ask me *bout country graveyards and hat can be done to avoid the ter ible weedy appearance of so many f them. The best thing I know is warf periwinkle. Now that graves re mostly flat, the periwinkle overs them farm better than rass. It is an evergreen and early n the spring it is a mass of bright lue flowers. Once started, it gets hicker and thicker until it is a right fresh green carpet, it lasts orever almost, and requires ab olutely no care except some cut ing back every few*years in cases rtiere it has trespassed on the tralks. Any of the dwarf evergreens re better for planting close to ;raves than the big ones. The big nes should be kept for the in ersection of the walks and drives. Weeping willows are lovely rees for cemeteries and I do not mow why ther are not used often r. They are graceful, appropriate, .nd hardy, and their leaves come iut very early in the spring. And •n top of all other good qualities, hey are rapid growers, and while ■hey like moisture, they do not lecessarily have to be planted be ide streams. Leopards won’t :hang*e their spots but trees will hang© their habits if given half i chance—Mrs. Lindsay Patter ion, in The Progressive Farmer. Fire Destroys Tobe Holt House -+ Second Time His Home Has Burned; Methodist And Baptist Sunday Schools Give Christmas Trees. -♦ PRINCETON, Dec. 28.—The house occupied by Tobe Holt w;as burned Monday night about 'nine o’clock, while all of the Holt fam ily were away. It is supposed that the fire started from wood rolling on the floor from the fireplace, as a good fire is said to have been left in the house an hour or so before the alarm was given. The house was located about a mile from town. This is the second time that the house in which Mr. Holt lived has been burned. Several years age the house in which the Holt fam ily resided, located about a quar ter of a mile from the one burned Monday night was destroyed by fire. Mr. Holt is the father of Mrs. Elsie Holt Snipes, who was found slain in her Richmond apart ment some time ago. A negro house was also burned Tuesday night about one o’clock. This house was located in the west ern part of town. The Baptist Sunday school gave a Christmas tree on Monday night. Presents were given to all of the children. The best musical program that they ever had was given to a full house. Some of the young girls deserve special mention for their efforts in making the program a big success. The Methodist Sunday school gave a Christmas tree on Friday night. An interesting program was given, and all of the children received presents. The members of the school fac ulty are spending the holidays at their respective homes as follows: Miss Elgie Woodard and Miss Es telle Lee, McIntyre, Ga.; Miss Clyda Woodard, Kenly; Miss Boyd, Rocky Mount; Miss Trear, Farm ville, Va.; Miss Hanks, Manning, S. C.; Miss Emma Cox, Graham; Miss McCormick, Rowland- Miss McCorkle, Salisbury; Miss Rober son, Robersonville; Miss Slaugh ter, Kenly; Miss Neely, Rock Hill, S. C.; Miss Caravan, Goldsboro; Miss Jones, Homestead, Pa.; Miss Holloway, Durham; Miss Walker, McCormick, S. C.; Miss Tomlinson, Wilson- Miss Harrellson, Temple. Texas; and Gilbert Boyette, Kenly, COTTON REPORT FOR JOHNSTON COUNTY Census report shows that there were 49,781 bales of cotton ginned n Johnston county from the crop of 1927 prior to Dec. 13, 1927, a compared with 67,275 bales ginnec to Dec. 13, 1926 crop. E. G. HOLLAND, Reporter LITTLE EDWARD BARBER IS SERIOUSLY INJUREL Edward Barber, the five-year iold son of Mr. and Mrs. P. W Barber, of the Polenta section was very seriously injured late yes terday afternoon when a flowei box weighing around two hundrec pound’s overturned on him, crush ing his abdomen. He was rurtiec to the Johnston County Hospita where an operation was deemec necessary, results of which wert not obtainable at a late hour* Iasi night. Special Services Kenly Churches Christmas Music At Holden Memorial; All Of The Sim day Schools Have Christ mas Trees. KENLY, Dec. 20.—Special mu sic characterized the eleven o’clock service at Holden Memorial Meth odist church Sunday. The Volun tary was entitled’ “The Joyful j Morn Is Breaking.” An anthem, “Peace and Good Will” was also rendered by the choir in addition ! to the beautiful Christmas hymns, i The soloists were Mesdames Griz zard and Darden; sopranos, Miss i Lillian Edgerton, Mrs. H. M. Grizzard, Mrs. A. J. Broughton; alto, Mrs. C. F. Darden; tenor. E. V. Neighbors; bass, Jack South ward. The sermon by the pastor on the subject: “Ecce Homo”—Behold the Man! The Christmas program g-iven at the Sunday school hour during the worship period was enjoyed by a large crowd. I The Sunday schools of the va rious churches gave the scholars Christmas trees last week: Thurs day evening at the Missionary Baptist church; Friday! evening, at the Methodist, Presbyterian, and Freewill Baptist churches. A Christmas program was given at each church, this bring-ing joy to the hearts of the little folks. -* LIGHT COTTON SEED PRODUCE LIGHT YIELDS -♦ RALEIGH, Dec. 26.—To get the heaviest production of cotton on a given area of land, it is necessary to have a good stand of plant*. Best stands are secured when the seed have been cleaned and grad ed and this, is a job that might well be done when other farm work is not so pressing. P. H. Kime, plant breeder fro the State College fo Agriculture has tried out this idea time after time and he has found that light seed have a lower percentage of germination than heavy seed. He has also found that the plants pro-\ dueecf by the light seed lacked vi tality and a large part of them died. Therefore he states that ar rangements might well be made |this year to reclean all planting seed. The man who doesn't have a cleaner might get his neighbors to go in with him and buy one for the community and the seed may be cleaned on a commercial bas-is by some one who does own a clean Mr. Kime says, “Maximum yields of cotton can be secured only when there are sufficient plants evenly distributed on the row. Cotton wiil adjust itself to a poor stand b>t where there is half a stand a full crop should certainly not be ex pected. Gaps of two or three feet are not so bad because the plants on each side of the gap will set more fruit. It is the wide gaps that reduce the yield. One who h not convinced of this should try weighing a row which has a few wide gaps of 6 to 10 feet occurring and then compare this with the row which has a perfect stand." By cleaning out the trash, un ginned locks, rotten locks and poorly ginned seed, a more ever distribution of the seed is 'secur ed. Black seed, which are very un desirable, are also removed an;! grading out the light, faulty seed will give a better germination and ; will produce stronger seedlings. I tates Mr. Kime. Aunt Roxie Opines I?y Me— “Happy New Year,”